In 1975, the year before Professor Anthony Goldstone began working at
University College Hospital as a consultant haematologist, his predecessor
published a report in The Lancet about the treatment of blood
diseases. It wasn’t particularly optimistic.

“It basically said, ‘Don’t bother, it never works,’ ” says Goldstone, who is
compact, silver-haired and maintains an air of quietly wry good humour.
“Obviously, it was a bit longer than that, but that was more or less the
summary.”

He sits on a hospital bed and his feet don’t quite touch the floor. In the 35
years since then, Goldstone